An eventful stay at this beautiful state park, but not the kind of event we cherish!
We had planned to stay at this State Park for two weeks on our way to South Dakota to get our drivers licenses renewed. We ended up staying 19 days because your faithful blogger suffered a torn retina on Thursday morning, April 24th. I was sitting inside reading when all of a sudden I saw what appeared to be a mass of black spaghetti in my right eye. I have been bothered by floaters all my adult life but this was unlike any floater I had ever encountered. Soon the spaghetti disappeared and it seemed as if I were looking through a snow globe filled with fine sand, but I could not see anything else.
I found a local opthalmolgist in Norman OK the nearest city to the State Park and called to describe what happened. They were able to see me around noon but the doctor who examined me, Kimberly M. Wise, said she couldn't see through my eye either! As luck would be on our side, there was a retinal specialist in the office for his normal weekly visit from Oklahoma City. So I got an exam by Dr. Darin Haivala who concluded that I had a torn retina and needed surgery sooner rather than later.
Friday morning at 6:00 am I was in an outpatient surgery facility in Oklahoma City OK where Dr. Haivala repaired the tear, added some laser sutures to the perimeter of the retina and did a vitrectomy to remove all the gunk in my vitreous. Fresh fluid was added to replace the vitreous as well as a bubble of air to keep pressure in the eye and to help hold the retina in place while it healed. I had to sleep sitting in the chair for a few days so the air bubble would press upward on the retina.
On Saturday I saw Dr. Haivala in his office where he pronounced the surgery successful, but I could still not see as the bubble obstructed any vision. He explained it would take some time for the bubble to be absorbed and "normal" vision restored.
As I write this my sight is returning to normal slowly, but steadily. It is a bit blurry in the affected eye, but much better than two weeks ago! I am comfortable that I will be able to pass the vision test for license renewal - but that was not the case two weeks ago.
It happens Dr. Haivala is a graduate of the University of South Dakota and he has friends who practice in Sioux Falls. He was able to make a followup appointment for me with one of them while we are in town. It would be about the normal time he would see me post surgery so that is good.
So we did not do any touring or other sight seeing (excuse the choice of words) while in Norman other than what is below.
I found a local opthalmolgist in Norman OK the nearest city to the State Park and called to describe what happened. They were able to see me around noon but the doctor who examined me, Kimberly M. Wise, said she couldn't see through my eye either! As luck would be on our side, there was a retinal specialist in the office for his normal weekly visit from Oklahoma City. So I got an exam by Dr. Darin Haivala who concluded that I had a torn retina and needed surgery sooner rather than later.
Friday morning at 6:00 am I was in an outpatient surgery facility in Oklahoma City OK where Dr. Haivala repaired the tear, added some laser sutures to the perimeter of the retina and did a vitrectomy to remove all the gunk in my vitreous. Fresh fluid was added to replace the vitreous as well as a bubble of air to keep pressure in the eye and to help hold the retina in place while it healed. I had to sleep sitting in the chair for a few days so the air bubble would press upward on the retina.
On Saturday I saw Dr. Haivala in his office where he pronounced the surgery successful, but I could still not see as the bubble obstructed any vision. He explained it would take some time for the bubble to be absorbed and "normal" vision restored.
As I write this my sight is returning to normal slowly, but steadily. It is a bit blurry in the affected eye, but much better than two weeks ago! I am comfortable that I will be able to pass the vision test for license renewal - but that was not the case two weeks ago.
It happens Dr. Haivala is a graduate of the University of South Dakota and he has friends who practice in Sioux Falls. He was able to make a followup appointment for me with one of them while we are in town. It would be about the normal time he would see me post surgery so that is good.
So we did not do any touring or other sight seeing (excuse the choice of words) while in Norman other than what is below.
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| This is a general view of Lake Thunderbird |
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| And again we enjoyed lakeside parking.
Oh and I must offer a word of thanks to the the Camp Host, Boots, who kindly looked after Dixie for us while we were in Oklahoma City for the surgery. She is a "dog person" and a very kind lady as well and we thank her.
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| Sunrise over Lake Thunderbird through the trees at our door. |
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| And another sunrise at a slightly different angle, but still out our door. |
We did see a Pileated Woodpecker flying from tree to tree on several morning walks with Dixie.
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